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Sunday, July 16, 2017

Book Review: Tempting Her Neighbor (Small Town Temptations #1) by Laura Jardine

Tired of big city life,
software developer Cole Sampson moves to a small Canadian town to get
some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, his keep-the-hell-away-from-me
vibes don’t work on his gorgeous new neighbor.

Waitress Rachel
Malone is intrigued by the hot curmudgeon living next door and his very
sexy scowl. Sure, he keeps shutting down her every advance, but before
long, she finally catches his interest.

A red-hot, sex-only
relationship is what they want. But Cole can’t get over the fact he
likes cuddling, and Rachel won’t let herself fall in love, not when
she’s finally decided to follow her dreams and move to the city. Still,
it’s just sex. Isn’t it?

I don't usually read novellas ... the reason is only that I like a longer book. Weird, I know ... it's just that if it ends up being something that I really like, then I want as many pages as the author is willing to crank out, you know? Anyway, I went against my usual "rules" and decided to give this one a go. Not too shabby.

I really enjoyed our hero of the story - Cole. He was all grumpy and prickly. He reminded me of my husband. For some reason, I think that stand-offish personality is sexy as hell. I don't know why ... most of the time people think that these grouchy dudes are assholes but they really aren't ... there is usually a very good reason behind the donkey attitude. Then again ... sometimes there isn't and the dude is really just a jerk. Anyway ... Cole was a good dude. I enjoyed his grouchy attitude and the reason why he was that way. You also get to experience a pretty interesting (and extremely slow) transformation within his personality and I always enjoy a good character metamorphosis.

I kinda liked Rachel as well ... but not as much. It was literally her character that kind of irritated me. She's the kind of chick that wants to just have fun, which is fine. I have no problem with a woman wanting to just go out there and have a much sex as possible - more power to you if that's your deal. But she would say how this is how she is and she's not apologetic for how she is but then in the same breath, she would whine and bellyache that people pick on her and if she was a dude, no one would say a thing about her promiscuity. Look, lady. You can't have it both ways. Either you don't care what people have to say or you do. Anyway, it was just the hypocrisy of her ... is that even the right word? If it isn't, hopefully you know what I mean.

This isn't your run of the mill, sickeningly sweet romance novel. It's a bit gritty at times and definitely raunchy and naughty at other times. One thing that did stand out is that it's not really what I would consider a romance ... you don't see the romantic interaction between our two main characters ... you see this animalistic need to mate. It's not flowery with a bunch of scented candles and massage oils, it's more get your rocks off, wham-bam thank you ma'am. All in all, not a bad book, but not one to read if you're looking for the mushy love-sick page turner with the dashing guy and the girl next door wallflower.